Chapter 3 – That Love Thing

She did solve the Acheron Configuration after all, she was able to understand her father's logic, his love for her mother. She however did not anticipate that this would set a sleep demon free, Batibat. The fight had been tough, and quite frankly, she had to admit she would have never done it without Ms. Wardell, who turned out to be her father's former secretary who pledged to protect Sabrina. Because she was in love with him. Because he taught her about love. Love, again. That damn word she swooned over as a mortal, and could barely pronounce in the witching world as she would be the laughing stock. Being hated was one thing, being mocked was another. So, she kept quiet about her love life at the Academy of Unseen Arts, not that there was anyone interested in it, to begin with. After confronting Ms. Wardell, she came back to the Mortuary. The Spellman tribe had regrouped around Hilda's tea, a concoction no one could even equal even if they tried all lifelong. She went upstairs to be able to sleep the a least for a bit, and get some rest. But after all the events of the day, the Configuration, Batibat, her mind began to wander places. She thought about that dream she had, it was not anodyne. The demon went to the core of her doubts, her fears, her weaknesses and used them against her, to put her in a situation of intense vulnerability.

Her mind went back to the lovely moments, with Harvey. Sweet Harvey. How she thought for a second that he was breaking up with her, what gut wrenching feeling that provoked – both in her dreams, and in real life – and how he told her he never wanted to lose her. That was Harvey for Sabrina, the safe place. Again. Instead, he asked to marry her with that beautiful ring in front of Baxter High. Her heart melted, she could not deny him. How could she? He was whom she saw herself with, short term, medium term, long term. She also recognized her salient stubbornness. When her Aunt Zelda told her that she could not marry Harvey because witches and mortals were from different incompatible worlds, she brushed it off. The mention of her D-E-A-D parents, as Zelda had put it, did not even make her flinch. She was determined to make it work. She was going to the altar with Harvey. When Hilda asked her if she loved Harvey as much as her father loved her mother, she knew there was no turning back and she had to tell Harvey. She could not hide the truth anymore. She was a witch, and if their love was true he would accept it.

In the next scene, there she was in her white wedding dress, going to confess to Harvey the secret she did try to confess once – that she actually confessed before erasing his memory, small detail. She could almost relive her emotions in the dream, she was terrified. She was not even sure how she was able to walk to him, to keep her voice from shaking for what was going to be a break-or-make moment in her life. Right before the wedding, great timing Batibat, she thought. Even when he told her it was bad luck for the groom to look at the bride's dress, he was not mad at her. He always had that light tone, that made her want to believe that everything was always going to be okay, as long as they stuck with each other. Wasn't it precisely what marriage was all about anyway? And off she went: "Harvey, I am a witch". Harvey remembered, "why am I having a sense of déjà vu". The next words were sheer honesty, she tells him how she confided in him in the woods, before her sixteenth birthday and erased his memory. A small shrug, and the smiles comes back again, and the words she longed for: "I love you Sabrina. I always have. I always will". There he was, the strong kind-hearted lovely man in front of her, taking it as if it was just a small detail. She was a witch, she had cast a spell on him – well metaphorically by how gorgeously perfect she was, or so she hoped – and actually, by making him forget that she did tell him the truth once before; and yet he would stay by his side, make her the happiest woman and witch of all time. He loved her. Unconditionally. She loved him. Nothing else mattered. She would marry him. "He knows what I am and he loves me", she said to Nick when he came across to ask her to leave with him, before she took her father's arm to go marry the love of her life. Harvey was waiting for her, at the altar. A few more minutes, and she would be united to Harvey forever.

That is when everything went downhill. His family emerged from nowhere – they were not supposed to be here – and accused her of being witch, then Harvey berated her: "Why Sabrina? Why did you have to tell me? It would have been fine if you just hadn't told me" His rage as he was choking her was beyond anything she could fathom, even in what she pictured as her darkest nightmares, never could she imagine Harvey being anything but sweet. Yet, Batibat made her see Mad Harvey choke her practically to death, her friends Roz and Susie encouraging him to kill the witch. Even though she knew that none of it was true, that it was just the expression of her deepest insecurities, her heart broke a little. He wanted her dead, and went as far as torture her. She was hyperventilating when Ambrose rushed in her room hearing her as he was passing by, taking her in his arms and rocking her until she got back to steady breathing. She then went on to recount it all to Ambrose, who sat there, his eyes focused on her cousin, who finished: "he tortured me Ambrose", she said, her eyes welling up in tears. "Cousin, you know Harvey would never do that. I mean, yes, the Connecticut Boarding School story would be easier. But, I guess I see where you come from. I've known Diana and your father, I've witnessed this thing you mortals call love. I guess your mortal side condemns you to be an eternal romantic. I am not saying Harvey will react positively to the news should you tell him, but he would not do that. Now, what about that Nicholas Scratch?"

Ambrose was curious as to why his cousin had dreamt about that warlock he's heard of from Luke, the guy he was sort of seeing at the moment. "What about him", Sabrina prompted, her eyebrows furrowed:

- Well, he was in your dream, cousin. That must mean something.

- He was. I am not sure what it means. He was somewhat always around. He was there when the Weird Sisters berated me for running for Prom Queen; come to think of it, he did not defend me – probably because he dated the Weird Sisters. All three of them. At once.

- Well, cousin, he is a warlock, a handsome one from what I gather. That is what we do, free love, lust, fun. We leave feelings and commitment to mortals. Sabrina scoffed.

- Count me in the mortal team any day then when it comes to it. He then went on flirting with me, which is really typical of the lad. I mean, who tells a girl how beautiful, how effortlessly charming, how funny, infuriatingly right she seems to be?

- Someone who lusts over you?

- Then he was about to ask me to Prom, when Harvey came, and it is as if he never existed. Well, he actually was there. When Harvey asked me to marry him and I accepted, Nicholas was in the back, with a sad expression.

- Maybe he lusts over you, too?

- Ambrose, we're barely friends. That is actually what I told Auntie Zee in my dream when she mentioned Nicholas Scratch as a suitable option for marriage. Then right before the ceremony, he came to me, with a mixture of hope and despair – I know it is odd – in his eyes, asking me to run away with him. He said that we were a witch and warlock, how it should be.

- Well, should it be?

- I don't know Ambrose. You know me well enough to realize I'll never turn my back on Harvey or take the easy way. I'll never give up on Harvey without giving him a chance to know and reflect on my… true nature. If he decides to walk away, then I'll…

- You'll…

Sabrina could not believe that Harvey would do such a thing, he loved her. He's told her so many times. When you love someone, you love them for all their parts, you love them through thick and thin. Right?

- I'll manage I guess. I don't really want to think about it, though.

- I guess I see where you come from. As I said, I was close to Uncle Edward and Diana, they embodied something I always dreamt of having with someone, that intense connection they had. It made Uncle Ed renounce or witch lifestyle, and Satan knows he was popular with the ladies and the gentlemen. I don't know, part of me is what I want with Luke. I am just not sure I can live up to that. Love. It is too soon anyway, and Luke and I are witches with way too many years behind us to change. But, you cousin, are half-mortal. Hold on to that part of you that is able to love selflessly and actually feel love through your bones.

- Wait. Luke? Who's Luke.

- Nice way to turn this conversation around. Luke is a warlock recently, he is also a member of our coven, he goes to the Academy of Unseen Arts. He's actually friends with Nicholas – well, more than friends if you want my opinion. Don't look at me like this, cousin. Not the point anyway. It is going well. The problem is that we always have to sneak around this house, or astral-projecting in secret to see each other, since, well, I am under house-arrest. It sucks.

Sabrina sent a warm heartfelt smile to her cousin before hugging him tight to her heart. They have always been a source of comfort to each other. She remembers the first time she fought with Harvey, she came back home into tears and he was the one to come to her room, talk some sense into her and just hold her until Harvey came around, forty-five minutes later because that is just how sweet he was, so that they could talk it through and apologize to each other. Ambrose had no doubt Sabrina loved Harvey, deeply. He would never tell her, but he feared the day she would tell him, feared the day she would realize that time would be the doom of them, him aging way quicker than her. She was too young to have her dreams shattered. Uncle Edward had told him about first love, its strength. Ambrose secretly hoped it did not last forever. Then again Edward's did. Until his dying breath. Before he left the room, Sabrina timidly said, barely audible: "There was this sentence Auntie Zee said in the dream: your attempts to conciliate your duality will only bring you pain and suffering. Do you think it's true? Do you think I'd have to eventually give up a part of me, that they cannot coexist?" Ambrose gave her a weary smile, that is definitely words that their Aunt Zelda could say, she could be very straightforward when she wanted to.

- I don't know. Maybe? Maybe not? At least, you get to live another day in both worlds. Enjoy it while it lasts.

- They all hate me at the Academy. I wish they would just leave me alone, but I am the half-breed. I guess I'll always be.

- They are jealous, Sabrina. You're so very special, Ambrose told her before coming back to her bed and placing a kiss on her forehead. He would do that ever since she was a little baby, and it would appease her.

As he left, she turned the lights out and thought about his words "you're so very special". That brought her back to that day in the library. She was studying with Harvey, Roz and Susie when Harvey began to hum to a song. She did not know it, but she liked it. You're so very special, I wish I was special. Radiohead's Creep. Then her mind wondered to other lyrics to the song. I am a creep, I am a weirdo. I don't belong here. Sometimes, that's how she felt about the Academy and the witching world. She dreamt of her "Third Way", but as her doubts crept back in tonight, she was not sure such a way existed. It unsettled her. She resorted to her coping, mechanism, Harvey Kinkle. She had called him right after her nightmare, in a desperate move. She went to her safe place, and once again, he delivered. He'd said he'd never hurt her. She fell asleep as she remembered their conversation:

- Harvey, it's me.

- Sabrina? What time is it?

- It is super late, but I need to ask you something. Here goes nothing, he was terrifying in that dream. Nothing like the man I love. This is stupid but I have to ask, Sabrina thought. You'd never hurt me, would you?

- What? No, of course not. Where is this coming from?

- We're just, so different, the two of us. If only you knew.

- What are you talking about, babe? Has something happened?

- Nothing, I had a really bad dream, that's all. I see you at school tomorrow?

- Yeah sure, we've got Civics tomorrow, right?

At the same time, Nicholas Scratch was getting ready for a night of debauchery – or so he hoped. He had asked Luke to go with him to Dorian's expecting the young warlock to fall in his sheets for part of the evening. As they entered Dorian's together, he had his hand on the small of Luke's back before the blonde man took it off very subtly. "We're drinking tonight Nick, and only drinking. No funny business tonight", he said smiling. Since when was Luke Chalfant immune to his charms? They were to hot warlocks, it was only natural they should unite in the night, the Dark Lord would not oppose:

- That is what you say know, Luke. But the night is long my friend. Who knows what plans it has for us?

- It might have plans, but I don't. Not to worry though, Nick. I am sure Dorian will be more than happy to tend to your needs, all of your needs, Luke said winking at Nicholas.

- What if I want it to be you? Nicholas asked in a flirtatious way. He would never force himself on anyone, but he needed to understand what was going there.

- Nicholas, please don't insist. Resisting you is not easy, I must say. But I must. At least, I must try.

- Is there a Dark teaching I have missed recently? Have we adopted the sin of the flesh that the False God disseminates?

- No. You have missed no Dark teachings, you never do Nicholas. It is just, well, I met this new boy, and I do like him…

- Don't you like me? I like you too, Luke.

- Not like that Nicholas. I like him not only for his looks or his sexual appeal, agility. I don't lust over him. Not only. I have feelings for him.

- Feelings? We do feelings now? Come on.

- I know, I found it stupid for almost a century. But with him, things are different, we see things differently. I mean, he is under house arrest, which makes the whole situation complicated, to see each other…

- Oh, a criminal, that is great Luke. I wonder what Father Blackwood would think, he had so many projects for you.

- Father Blackwood need not to know anything about my personal life. Anyway, this guy is a warlock who's been close to mortals, to their ways and it seems it has influenced him somewhat. I mean, we're both realists, we said we'd give that whole romantic bubble a go, and see where it leads us, and see if it works. I care about him.

- You cannot. We care about our Dark Lord, we care about our families. We're not taught how to care about others. That's not who we are.

- It is not something anyone can teach you. I guess it comes with age and experience, and finding the right person obviously. You're much younger than I am Nicky, it may come later in life for you. Mortals call that love. I am not sure we're there yet, but we're headed there, Luke confessed, his eyes far away, daydreaming about Ambrose.

- Love? What's that love thing?

- Weird feelings, it is hard to explain. It is a need to see the person, to constantly learn more about them, to be close to them, to have them need you. It can be all-consuming sometimes. Physically, it can translate into chest pains…

- Did you just say chest pains?

- Well, yeah. Not exactly pains though, know that I think about it. It is more your chest tightening or feeling a small pang there when you are dissatisfied, sad, jealous of someone else is roaming around the person you love. The rest of your body is not immune, you shiver more than usual in a non-sexual context I mean, and you can feel goosebumps. These sorts of things. I guess I am not an expert yet. It may sound silly, and it does not seem quite serious, especially not for us, who are so used to lust, desire and physical attraction but it is how it feels. At least, how it feels for me.

Nicholas was speechless for a minute. He had to process everything Luke was telling him. The chest reactions in chain reactions, the obsession-like for another person – that is not the Dark Lord, he had just described his body expressed in the past weekend while Sabrina was at the Academy. To a heavenly T. All along, he thought it was a curse. He actually wanted to mention it to Luke, who was known for his skills in cursing. Now that he thinks of it, these reactions slowed down now that Sabrina is not around anymore. They have not completely disappeared, though. They still come and go – when he thinks of Sabrina, and he's been doing that a fair amount of time, in different settings – not all False-God-teachings compliant he must say. He began to chuckle slightly when he saw Luke doing the same and reading a message from the palm on his hand. They both stare at each other, and ask their questions at the same time:

- What got you all giddy Chalfant?

- What got you all giggly Scratch?

- I asked first, Chalfant.

- That guy I was talking about? Well, he just sent me the craziest story ever. Apparently, his cousin whom he lives with, along with their two aunts, has freed some demon that put the entire house to sleep and to dreams – well, nightmares, actually. The girl is resourceful though, she was able to rescue the household somewhat. I am disappointed though, he said he did not dream of me. I guess, I'd rather be in his dreams than nightmares, but still.

Nicholas' mind was racing. An Acheron, two aunts, a girl's resourcefulness, the coincidences seems too many to only be coincidences.

- I guess you're right, yes.

- Thing is, his cousin apparently had a dream about her boyfriend…

- What's a boyfriend, exactly? Nicholas had already heard of the word a few times from mortals in the street and other places, but he never fully understood what it was.

- I am not entirely sure, but I guess it is what mortals call their partners before they marry them.

- So, does that make use boyfriends, you and me? Nicholas asked, not sure to fully grasp the idea. Luke chuckled.

- No, we definitely are not. Boyfriend implies some sort of exclusivity. You know how mortals have this idea brought to us by the False God that they ought to give themselves, fully, to another person, that it is the sign of true love or care, or whatever that is. They only see, hang out, copulate and entertain a romantic relationship with one person at a time, that is the boyfriend – or the girlfriend, depending on preferences.

Nicholas was on the edge of his seat. He needed to know, he began to figure out the entire plot but he needed confirmation from Luke. At the same time, he did not want to reveal his motives and what was going on with him:

- I see. I mean, it is not unheard of in our world, although pretty rare. Even newly-weds have their side pieces, that is just how we work. I have to say I condone the mortals for the ideal, at least. Not sure how it translates in real life. But, hang on, the girl puts a sleep demon back to sleep, dare I say, she can be no mortal.

- Not unheard of, indeed. I think Edward Spellman was monogamous back in his day. Must be a Spellman thing. Or a half-breed feature. Both? People really need to stop calling her that horrendous name, Nick thought. He decided however not to take on the fight. At least, not yet.

- A Spellman thing? There was the confirmation. It was indeed Sabrina. She succeeded in solving that Acheron Configuration in a couple of days, when he spent three years in vain. Heaven, even Blackwood spent countless hours on, to no avail. But here comes the half-mortal barely immersed blonde girl, and she knocks it off. As if it were nothing. Impressive is an understatement, Nicholas thought.

- Oh yeah, the girl is Ambrose's cousin, Sabrina Spellman? She Edward Spellman's daughter, she began at the Academy last weekend, not sure if you saw her? A fine young lady, I must say. Her mother was mortal, as everyone knows which makes her a half-breed…

- Enough with that word. It is insulting. Luke frowned, not sure why Nicholas was defending a person he barely knew, at best.

- Is it? Anyway. She is half-mortal, excuse me Lord Scratch and she believes in that love thing. She has a boyfriend, a mortal. Like father, like daughter. And apparently, it is contagious in the family. Ambrose seems to want to give it a short, after 132 years of living as a warlock.

Nick was lost in his thoughts. There was Harvey Kinkle. The boyfriend. The only man Sabrina would truly give the time of the day, the man she cared about, the man she loved. Whatever that meant. The man that kept her away from him, away from everyone else. It made so much more sense now. A Spellman thing. Luke was right, boy did she play a number on him. Apparently, he was not the only one to fall for a Spellman. Luke was observing Nicholas, silently, without a word. Nick's facial expressions were enough. He could see the emotions jostle in his eyes: lust, care, desire, envy, jealousy, longing. He was new to that mortal love game, but he knew enough:

- You met her, and you like her.

- I beg your pardon? To say Nicholas was surprised would be an understatement. He thought he hid his thoughts well, but apparently Luke saw right through him.

- You like Sabrina Spellman, and you can't fully understand what that means, and you're furious she's got a boyfriend, that she is not available, by mortal standards.

- Nonsense, Nicholas scoffed. Yes, she is cute and all. But I am a warlock, I don't do feelings. We don't do feelings. Neither should she.

- Come on, talk to me, Scratch. Nicholas felt there was no escape, so he gave in, needing to share the burden with someone else, someone who understood.

- Fine. I like her. Sort of. I don't know. I felt all those weird body reactions you referred to. I thought – I still think – it may be a curse. Funny you mentioned it, I wanted to run it by you.

- It is not a curse, at least not the type I can cure with a potion. It is more of a spell? Call it the Spellman's Spell.

The Spellman Spell. No doubt she had cast a spell on him. As for any unknown spell, Nicholas would do what he does best to get on top of it. Research.